Changes aid Senior Bowl, players

Published: Saturday, January 24, 2009 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, January 23, 2009 at 11:50 p.m.

MOBILE — One of the foremost authorities on the Senior Bowl is Vic Knight, who recently ended 20 years as public relations director of the all-star football game. After lunch Friday at a seafood restaurant in Alabama's port city he talked about how the bowl had changed over the years.During his career Knight saw the practices changing from two-a-day, with the teams practicing on high school fields, to practicing once a day at Ladd-Memorial Stadium; from a few people standing around watching to thousands sitting in the stadium; from a few writers showing up with notebooks to practices being televised on national networks."All this extra coverage has increased fan interest in who will be drafted where in the upcoming NFL draft," Knight said. "And this has also gotten Internet and talk radio involved. It has become a whole special interest in itself. All that wasn't there in the early years."The game goes back to the 1950, more than 30 years before Knight was hired. But he says, "The best game, without question, was in 1994. The format in the game had just changed back from AFC vs. NFC back to North vs. South; and that, obviously, renewed the natural rivalry."That year Don Shula was coaching the South, which went into the fourth quarter leading 28-17. Then late in the game the North rallied and took the lead for the first time, 32-28, with 3:11 left to play. Tennessee's Charlie Garner got a good return on the ensuing kick; then the North was penalized 15 yards on the play.The South took over at the 50-yard line. On first-and-10, quarterback Stan White saw wide receiver Kevin Lee break open down the middle. He threw a perfect pass, which Lee caught in stride and crossed the goal line untouched to give the South a 35-32 lead and send the Ladd Stadium crowd into a frenzy."Everyone in the stadium was cheering for the South, and when an Auburn quarterback passed to an Alabama receiver for the winning touchdown late in the game, that was just perfect," recalled Knight. "It was something that hadn't been happening because under the previous AFC-NFC format, Alabama and Auburn players were not on the same team."The enthusiasm carried over to the next year, when two great quarterback prospects — Steve NcNair of Alcorn State and Kerry Collins of Penn State - plus popular Jay Barker from Alabama were on the team."We had the earliest sellout in history that year," Knight said. "Then Collins and McNair both were drafted in the top 5, which added to the game's prestige. One year we had 15 Senior Bowl players picked in the first round."One of the funniest things about the game isn't on the field, but at weight-in. The big muscle guys like to show off, and the little skilled players try to hold back and not be seen. So, there is a lot of clowning around.LaDainian Tomlinson (TCU) became a great success story the year he was here, suffered an injury and went home; then returned in time for the game and was named MVP. Then there was Brian Uriacher, New Mexico wide receiver and defensive back, who had been projected as a NFL linebacker. He made the position switch here, which pleased the scouts.Matt Jones and Antoine Randel-El, who were college quarterbacks, also switched to other positions in this bowl game in order to be drafted. But this year Pat White, West Virginia, has elected to stay at quarterback, which may hurt his chances in the draft. He is 6-0, 195, which is smaller than any quarterback in the NFL.

MOBILE &mdash; One of the foremost authorities on the Senior Bowl is Vic Knight, who recently ended 20 years as public relations director of the all-star football game. After lunch Friday at a seafood restaurant in Alabama's port city he talked about how the bowl had changed over the years.<br />During his career Knight saw the practices changing from two-a-day, with the teams practicing on high school fields, to practicing once a day at Ladd-Memorial Stadium; from a few people standing around watching to thousands sitting in the stadium; from a few writers showing up with notebooks to practices being televised on national networks.<br />&quot;All this extra coverage has increased fan interest in who will be drafted where in the upcoming NFL draft,&quot; Knight said. &quot;And this has also gotten Internet and talk radio involved. It has become a whole special interest in itself. All that wasn't there in the early years.&quot;<br />The game goes back to the 1950, more than 30 years before Knight was hired. But he says, &quot;The best game, without question, was in 1994. The format in the game had just changed back from AFC vs. NFC back to North vs. South; and that, obviously, renewed the natural rivalry.&quot;<br />That year Don Shula was coaching the South, which went into the fourth quarter leading 28-17. Then late in the game the North rallied and took the lead for the first time, 32-28, with 3:11 left to play. Tennessee's Charlie Garner got a good return on the ensuing kick; then the North was penalized 15 yards on the play.<br />The South took over at the 50-yard line. On first-and-10, quarterback Stan White saw wide receiver Kevin Lee break open down the middle. He threw a perfect pass, which Lee caught in stride and crossed the goal line untouched to give the South a 35-32 lead and send the Ladd Stadium crowd into a frenzy.<br />&quot;Everyone in the stadium was cheering for the South, and when an Auburn quarterback passed to an Alabama receiver for the winning touchdown late in the game, that was just perfect,&quot; recalled Knight. &quot;It was something that hadn't been happening because under the previous AFC-NFC format, Alabama and Auburn players were not on the same team.&quot;<br />The enthusiasm carried over to the next year, when two great quarterback prospects &mdash; Steve NcNair of Alcorn State and Kerry Collins of Penn State - plus popular Jay Barker from Alabama were on the team.<br />&quot;We had the earliest sellout in history that year,&quot; Knight said. &quot;Then Collins and McNair both were drafted in the top 5, which added to the game's prestige. One year we had 15 Senior Bowl players picked in the first round.&quot;<br />One of the funniest things about the game isn't on the field, but at weight-in. The big muscle guys like to show off, and the little skilled players try to hold back and not be seen. So, there is a lot of clowning around.<br />LaDainian Tomlinson (TCU) became a great success story the year he was here, suffered an injury and went home; then returned in time for the game and was named MVP. Then there was Brian Uriacher, New Mexico wide receiver and defensive back, who had been projected as a NFL linebacker. He made the position switch here, which pleased the scouts.<br />Matt Jones and Antoine Randel-El, who were college quarterbacks, also switched to other positions in this bowl game in order to be drafted. But this year Pat White, West Virginia, has elected to stay at quarterback, which may hurt his chances in the draft. He is 6-0, 195, which is smaller than any quarterback in the NFL.<br />